In recent years, image capturing apparatuses (cameras) using solid-stage image sensors, such as digital still cameras and digital video cameras, have rapidly advanced in terms of performance and compactness. For these image capturing apparatuses, a zoom lens is normally used for the image capturing lens. If a zoom lens is used, the user can easily take a picture at an angle of view that is optimum for the image capturing conditions. For the zoom lens, a wider angle of view, a larger aperture ratio and a higher zoom ratio are strongly demanded in order to expand the image capturing area of the camera. For this, various zoom lenses, which have a wide angle of view and sufficient brightness in the wide-angle end state, and which can perform telephotography, have been proposed (e.g. see Patent Document 1).